Decomposing application topology data into transaction tracking data

• US 9,916,229 B2
• Filed: 10/14/2015
• Issued: 03/13/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 10/14/2015
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Chee, Boon C., Dixon, Scot W., Loffler, Michelle M. Y., Seow, Samuel K. H., Wu, Nicholas
• Primary Examiner(s): Bodden, Evral E
• Application Number:
  US14/882,654
• Publication Number:
  US 20170109266A1
• Time in Patent Office: 881 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/34 Recording or statistical evaluation of computer activity, e.g. of down time, of input/output operation ; Recording or statistical evaluation of user activity, e.g. usability assessment
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3414 Workload generation, e.g. scripts, playback
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3457 Performance evaluation by simulation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3466 Performance evaluation by tracing or monitoring
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3664 Environments for testing or debugging software
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3668 Software testing software testing in telephone exchanges H04M3/242, testing of hardware G06F11/22
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3684 for test design, e.g. generating new test cases
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2201/87 Monitoring of transactions
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/18 Protocol analysers
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/55 Testing of service level quality, e.g. simulating service usage

Abstract

In an approach for generating transaction tracking data that is used to simulate a customer environment or test case scenario, a processor receives user input data, wherein the user input data includes, at least, an application topology constructed using a graphical user interface. A processor validates the user input data for, at least, supported environments of components of the application topology. A processor generates transaction tracking data based on, at least, the user input data.

Claims

1. A method for generating transaction tracking data that is used to simulate a customer environment or test case scenario, the method comprising:

receiving, by one or more processors, user input data, wherein the user input data includes, at least, an application topology constructed using a graphical user interface, wherein the application topology includes nodes that are connected by unidirectional edges and bidirectional edges, and wherein the nodes represent operating systems, middleware, and applications, wherein each of the nodes are assigned properties that describe node attributes of a respective node, wherein the node attributes include context data that describes the respective node, status information to simulate a live customer environment, volume data, and timing data, wherein the context data includes a system name, an application name, and a transaction name, and wherein the timing data is inferred from a position of the nodes on the graphical user interface;

validating, by one or more processors, the user input data for, at least, supported environments of components of the application topology, wherein additional nodes and edges are created during the validation process; and

generating, by one or more processors, transaction tracking data based on, at least, the user input data, wherein generating transaction tracking data comprises;

decomposing, by one or more processors, the edges into transaction tracking inbound and outbound events with specified context and timestamps that are correlated to source nodes and destination nodes using horizontal correlation data, wherein a number of the transaction tracking inbound and outbound events are based on the volume data, wherein a user specifies the volume data and response times on the nodes across the edges.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the application topology represents an application environment to be tested.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the edges represent transaction flows between the nodes, wherein each of the edges are assigned properties that describe edge attributes of a respective edge, wherein the edge attributes include communication protocols supported between the nodes, network technologies, and a direction of flow of data.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein generating transaction tracking data comprises:

decomposing, by one or more processors, the nodes into transaction tracking vertical correlation data, context data, status information, and timing data; and

generating, by one or more processors, for each node, started and finished events with specified context and timestamps reflecting the user input data, wherein the transaction tracking data, including the started and finished events, are time shifted to simulate the live customer environment.

5. A computer program product for generating transaction tracking data that is used to simulate a customer environment or test case scenario, the computer program product comprising:

one or more computer readable storage media and program instructions stored on the one or more computer readable storage media, the program instructions comprising;

program instructions to receive user input data, wherein the user input data includes, at least, an application topology constructed using a graphical user interface, wherein the application topology includes nodes that are connected by unidirectional edges and bidirectional edges, and wherein the nodes represent operating systems, middleware, and applications, wherein each of the nodes are assigned properties that describe node attributes of a respective node, wherein the node attributes include context data that describes the respective node, status information to simulate a live customer environment, volume data, and timing data, wherein the context data includes a system name, an application name, and a transaction name, and wherein the timing data is inferred from a position of the nodes on the graphical user interface;

program instructions to validate the user input data for, at least, supported environments of components of the application topology, wherein additional nodes and edges are created during the validation process; and

program instructions to generate transaction tracking data based on, at least, the user input data, wherein program instructions to generate transaction tracking data comprise;

program instructions to decompose the edges into transaction tracking inbound and outbound events with specified context and timestamps that are correlated to source nodes and destination nodes using horizontal correlation data, wherein a number of the transaction tracking inbound and outbound events are based on the volume data, wherein a user specifies the volume data and response times on the nodes across the edges.

6. The computer program product of claim 5, wherein the application topology represents an application environment to be tested.

7. The computer program product of claim 5, wherein the edges represent transaction flows between the nodes, wherein each of the edges are assigned properties that describe edge attributes of a respective edge, wherein the edge attributes include communication protocols supported between the nodes, network technologies, and a direction of flow of data.

8. The computer program product of claim 5, wherein program instructions to generate transaction tracking data comprise:

program instructions to decompose the nodes into transaction tracking vertical correlation data, context data, status information, and timing data; and

program instructions to generate, for each node, started and finished events with specified context and timestamps reflecting the user input data, wherein the transaction tracking data, including the started and finished events, are time shifted to simulate the live customer environment.

9. A computer system for generating transaction tracking data that is used to simulate a customer environment or test case scenario, the computer system comprising:

one or more computer processors, one or more computer readable storage media, and program instructions stored on the computer readable storage media for execution by at least one of the one or more processors, the program instructions comprising;

program instructions to receive user input data, wherein the user input data includes, at least, an application topology constructed using a graphical user interface, wherein the application topology includes nodes that are connected by unidirectional edges and bidirectional edges, and wherein the nodes represent operating systems, middleware, and applications, wherein each of the nodes are assigned properties that describe node attributes of a respective node, wherein the node attributes include context data that describes the respective node, status information to simulate a live customer environment, volume data, and timing data, wherein the context data includes a system name, an application name, and a transaction name, and wherein the timing data is inferred from a position of the nodes on the graphical user interface;

program instructions to validate the user input data for, at least, supported environments of components of the application topology, wherein additional nodes and edges are created during the validation process, wherein the edges represent transaction flows between the nodes, wherein each of the edges are assigned properties that describe edge attributes of a respective edge, wherein the edge attributes include communication protocols supported between the nodes, network technologies, and a direction of flow of data; and

program instructions to generate transaction tracking data based on, at least, the user input data, wherein program instructions to generate transaction tracking data comprise;

program instructions to decompose the edges into transaction tracking inbound and outbound events with specified context and timestamps that are correlated to source nodes and destination nodes using horizontal correlation data, wherein a number of the transaction tracking inbound and outbound events are based on the volume data, wherein a user specifies the volume data and response times on the nodes across the edges;

program instructions to decompose the nodes into transaction tracking vertical correlation data, context data, status information, and timing data; and

program instructions to generate, for each node, started and finished events with specified context and timestamps reflecting the user input data, wherein the transaction tracking data, including the started and finished events, are time shifted to simulate the live customer environment.

10. The computer system of claim 9, wherein the application topology represents an application environment to be tested.